H's SheZow Shorts
by hyperpsychomaniac
Summary: So I'm pretty busy at the moment and don't really have time to write full-length fanfic. But I figure I have enough time to write one shots. So this is where I will be putting them. Basically going to be short SheZow stories of about anything and everything that takes my fancy and involves SheZow (or Boxter/Droosha).
1. Chapter 1

It was a rainy, hazy day that Mocktopus decided to attack the pier. Again. The rain wasn't pelting down, but it was drizzling. The end of the pier, out to sea, was covered with a fog and barely visible. But the fog didn't quite hide Mocktopus' rampage. Tentacles flailed up out of the haze, and the shrieks of civilians carried, even through the dreary weather.

"Are you sure this isn't going to ruin my hair?" Guy asked. He pressed up against the Shehicle's window. The roof was closed, so the rain couldn't get in. But he couldn't fight Mocktopus from inside the Shehicle. It'd look stupid.

Kelly glared at him from her spot in the passenger seat. "No, it won't. It's barely spitting."

"But it's cold…"

"Seriously? You're SheZow. Do you even get cold?"

"This skirt doesn't exactly keep everything cozy."

"TMI, dude," Maz sighed.

"If you vacillate much longer, Dad's going to get here. Do you want to deal with that?"

"If he whats? Kelly… ew!" Maz screwed up his face.

"What on earth do you think that means!?"

Guy sighed. If Kelly and Maz kept fighting, they really would be here until the cops came. He pushed open the door and flew up the pier.

"Hey, wait up!" Kelly called after him.

Mocktopus was pulling fish out of a docked boat, helping himself quite causally to the catch, whilst ignoring the screaming people around him.

Guy landed, stumbling as he did. Okay, so SheZow's hair didn't really like the damp air. But he didn't need to fly to defeat Mocktopus, right? "Everyone out of here!" he shouted.

The half-dozen people still on the pier stopped running around in circles and stared at him.

"That way!" Guy pointed up the pier. He rolled his eyes and groaned. "Away from the sea monster!"

The people rushed past him, whipping up his cape as they passed. "Thanks, SheZow!"

"Yeah, cause you really need my help figuring out which way to run…" Guy grumbled. "Hey, Mocktopus! What are you doing? Can't you catch your own fish instead of stealing someone else's? I mean, you can actually swim…"

"But the waters so cold." Mocktopus hugged himself with two of his tentacles. "You can't expect me to swim in that."

"Yeah right, I bet you just forgot your floaties."

"I can swim! I just don't want to. So there."

"Well I'm not going to let you take those fish."

Mocktopus growled. He pulled himself up out of the boat and back up onto the pier. "Don't tell me what to do!" Tentacles slammed down on the boardwalk.

Guy rolled out of the way. "Laser lipstick!" He pulled out his weapon and slashed it at Mocktopus' tentacles. Mocktopus dodged, and then whipped a tentacle around. Guy collected it full in the chest, rolled over and slammed into one of the pylons. "Ow!" He only barely rolled out of the way again as another tentacle slammed down. SheZow was supposed to be way faster than this!

"Kelly!" he shouted. "Why am I all sluggish?"

Kelly and Maz skidded to a halt just behind him. "Maybe you're hair's damp?" said Kelly.

"Yeah, but you said…"

"I know. Maybe I was wrong? Maybe it's all the salt in the air…"

"Ugh!"

"Oh look! You all want to play, huh?" Mocktopus grinned at them, all razor edged teeth, and lashed his tentacles out in all directions.

Guy ducked again, and when he looked up, Kelly and Maz had dodged the attack and were back on their feet too.

"Come on, SheZow, you're not all out of power, right? We'll help you." Maz grinned like a maniac, picked up a nearby life buoy, and flung it at Mocktopus' head.

"Ow, stop it!" Mocktopus slammed down a tentacle, but Maz rolled out of the way, just in time.

Guy grinned. Now this was more like it! Mocktopus was a pushover, who cared if SheZow's hair was a bit damp? Not when he had help. "Hey, fish face, over here!"

Mocktopus whirled around and slapped at SheZow again. Maz and Kelly pounced, each grabbing at a tentacle.

"Stop it!"

Guy found a bit of net, and snagged it over half of Mocktopus' tentacles. Mocktopus screeched and tore it loose. More tentacles flailed out everywhere.

And that was when the wail of sirens filled the air.

"Oh, no," Guy groaned. Mocktopus should've been quick to defeat, had SheZow's powers not been going all glitchy cause of the damp, or salt, or whatever. It was taking too long. The last thing they needed were the cops. Or worse, his father.

The haze parted and a cop car slewed across the wet pier. Officer Wackerman and Boxter jumped out. They were both rugged up in water-resistant jackets, and Boxter slammed the car door with a huff. "I'm telling you, when it gets like this it messes with the gel."

"Quit whinging. Why do you need to make it do that flippy thing at the front anyway?"

"You're just mad cause all your hair does is curl. And thanks to SheZow, now we've got to get out here and fix her mess. Again!" Boxter said that last word a little too obviously loudly, and turned a glare and his ever-ready SheZow-hate towards Guy.

Guy gulped. Goddess, he was so glad his father hadn't worked out who SheZow was yet.

"Oh no…" said Maz. He ducked down behind a nearby crate. He wouldn't want his friend's cop father seeing him and dobbing him into his parents. Just in time too; Boxter didn't spot him. Kelly, however, was far too engrossed with slamming a loose oar down on one of Mocktopus' tentacles.

Boxter faltered. "Kelly?!"

Kelly stopped pounding Mocktopus' tentacle and froze, eyes wide and fixed on her father. "Dad?" she squeaked.

"What the hell is she doing here?!"

"Well, you see…" Guy began.

"Stop poking me! All of you!" Mocktopus flung a tentacle wide. It slapped across Kelly's chest and flung her right off the pier.

"Kelly!" Guy zipped to the edge and froze. The water was churning up around the pylons, the waves high. SheZow's hair would be a mess if he dove in. He searched for his sister, hoping to spot her so he could scoop her out without actually going into the water. Where was she?! The haze was thick down over the water, and he couldn't see her anywhere.

Something slammed into Guy's chest, a bundle of blue material, hard enough to make him stumble to the side. A police jacket, bunched up in Boxter's fist and flung with enough force Guy wondered if it had been meant to hurt.

Boxter dove in, and disappeared beneath the waves.

"Da- Officer Hamdon, wait…" Goddess. Where was Kelly? Did Dad even know where she was?

"Shit," said Wackerman. "Where'd they go?"

"I… I don't know. Can… can he swim in that?" His Dad could swim, but the ocean was churning. Could Kelly swim in that? Mocktopus had hit her pretty hard, she could be unconscious.

Wackerman glared at him. "Why are you even fighting sea monsters with kids? It's dangerous. Now he's… Aren't you supposed to be able to fly?"

"Not in this!" Guy bunched up his fists. But he could still run. "It's okay; we'll find them." He ran back, off the pier and down onto the beach. "Kelly! Officer Hamdon!" He ran up the length of beach at blistering speed, though not quite as fast as when his powers were fully functioning, and then back again. By then, Wackerman was making his way off the pier, breathing heavily.

Guy spun on his heel and readied himself to rush along the length of beach again. Maybe he could risk flying out over the water. Then he saw the hunched form though the haze, right on the waterline. Guy jogged up. His father knelt in the damp sand. Kelly was beside him, doubled over and retching up seawater.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Just breath. You're safe." Boxter held an arm around her, holding her up.

Kelly was soaked through to the skin, and she choked and coughed. But at least that meant she was breathing. Guy swallowed the lump in his throat and crouched down in front of her. "Hey, Kelly… you okay?"

"Get away from her." Boxter jerked up and pushed Guy back. His voice was hoarse, though he wasn't spluttering as badly as Kelly. He was shivering and bedraggled, and he could hardly take a swing at SheZow with Kelly clinging to him like that, but Guy still startled and took a step back.

"Dad, I'm okay…" Kelly said weakly. "Don't be mad at her."

Boxter stood up, letting Kelly lean heavily on him as she pulled herself to her feet. "What were you doing anyway?"

Kelly swiped at her cheeks, pushing back tears. "Helping…"

"Here," Wackerman finally caught up with them, panting. He took off his jacket and handed it to Boxter, who in turn wrapped it around Kelly's shoulders, then pulled her back to his side.

Then he glared at Guy. "You stay away from my daughter, understand?"

"But… I didn't… I didn't know she'd get hurt."

"Dad," said Kelly, "it's okay…"

"No, it's not okay. I don't know how I even managed to find you in all that water, I…" Boxter drew in a sharp breath and wiped at his red, bloodshot eyes. "Stupid saltwater… SheZow, you leave her out of all of this stuff, alright? You put her in danger and I'll… I'll… just stay away from her. Stay away from my entire family."

"But I didn't mean to…"

"I don't care! Breaking property and leaving a mess is one thing. But you could've…" He drew his arm tighter around Kelly. "You could've killed her."

"I'm okay," Kelly said again.

"No, you're not," Boxter knelt down in front of her. He pushed a wet strand of hair out of her face. "Are you?"

Kelly swallowed hard, tugged the jacket around her, and tried to fight away the shaking. "I… I can't stay away from her; I'm president of her fan club."

"Well maybe that's not such a good idea."

"But, Dad…" Kelly began. She gave up and let out a little moan, then sunk against him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Aw, sweetheart, I'm sorry, I just… forget I said that. We'll talk about it later. Come on, I'll take you home and you can get some dry clothes, okay?" He hoisted her up into his arms, hugging her to his chest.

Kelly didn't even complain, just clung to him.

"Officer Hamdon, I'm sorry." Guy stepped aside at the last second as Boxter stomped past.

His father completely ignored him, just headed back up to the pier with Wackerman. Kelly looked at Guy briefly, eyelids heavy, then sunk against Boxter's shoulder. They both disappeared into the mist.

Guy swallowed hard and wrung his hands, trying to stop them shaking. Kelly was okay, Dad would take care of her. He'd just… he hadn't expected the fight to get so dangerous so fast. I mean, it was Mocktopus! But Kelly didn't have superpowers. And Mocktopus still had eight limbs of flailing muscle.

"Hey, is she okay?" Maz slunk up beside him.

"I… I think so. I couldn't… Dad wouldn't let me check."

Maz put his hand on his shoulder. "Well what about you?"

"I don't know." Guy sniffed and shrugged off his friend's touch. "Come on, I'll drop you off home."

"Aw, I'm sure she's fine we can still…"

"I said no, Maz!" Guy snapped. Maz didn't have superpowers either. "I just… sorry… I've just had enough superheroing for one day."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n:** So for a bit of a change I thought I'd do some fluff. As opposed to hurting characters... no I'm not going to do a sneaky and do something nasty towards the end of this one it is fluff I swear. And I'm pretty happy with this so let me know what you think! Enjoy. :)

* * *

"Here's here again."

"Who?" Droosha rolled her eyes, but she could tell from the telltale rise in pitch of her workmate's voice who the customer was. And it was nine am. He was always right on schedule.

"The overgrown puppy, as you so like to call him," Nerissa replied, raising her voice a little.

Droosha cleared her throat as she turned around and came face to face with the cop waiting right at the counter. He was far too close, and she strongly suspected Nerissa had spoken as loudly as she had for his benefit.

"Um… hi, Droosha," he said. He was already starting to turn a little pink. That usually didn't happen until halfway through placing his order.

"Good morning, Boxter." After what Nerissa had just pulled she should at least let him know she remembered his name from last time. He knew hers because he had read her tag, and she only knew his first name because he'd given it to her when she'd asked who to call for the coffees. Like it was hard to remember they were for the only two cops in the cafe. But hey, she'd kinda wanted to know.

Boxter shifted his big hands on the counter self-consciously. Overgrown puppy had been what Droosha had first called him, before she realised he wasn't just taking a half-hearted crack at chatting up the coffee chic. He couldn't have been any older than her, and his movements were like a growing puppy that hadn't yet realised it was now big enough to knock over damn near anyone, and was still wondering what it was supposed to do with its giant paws and muscled arms…

Droosha forced herself to look back up at his face. How long had she been staring? "What can I get you?" she said, feeling herself flush.

"Well I was going to ask…" Boxter began. He only managed to hold her gaze for a second before looking down at his hands on the counter again. "Um… two coffees please."

The second officer, waiting a little too obviously away from the counter, rolled his eyes and let out a huff, then grabbed a menu off a nearby table and pretended to read it.

"It'll be just a second," said Droosha.

Boxter counted out the correct change awkwardly into one hand, and dumped it into both of Droosha's. Nerissa moved over to the coffee machine and started on the coffees. Droosha eyed her colleague suspiciously as she sorted the coins into the register. She wouldn't put it past her to scribble her number on that cup when she wasn't looking.

A loud crash sounded from outside. Everyone jumped, and the coffee machine let out a startled hiss. Nerissa swore at it.

Outside the shop front, visible through the big plate glass window, a disgruntled SheZow sat up in the body-sized dent she'd made in the roof of the parked police cruiser. "Ow… damn it," she muttered, rubbing at her head.

Boxter bristled, balled up his fists, and stomped outside, pushing past his partner, who just stood there wide eyed. "SHECOW!"

So much for puppy, that was a full-fledged bark. Droosha slipped around the counter and followed him to check whether SheZow had broken anything belonging to the coffee shop. And to make sure an angry, broad-shouldered police officer didn't scare away the customers remaining outside. Not that there was much chance of that if a superhero plummeting into a parked car hadn't spooked them.

"Oh nice, haven't heard that one before." SheZow jumped down from the top of the car and began to brush imaginary dust off her sleeve.

Boxter stared at the car. "You've completely smashed in the roof… I…" he let out a huff. "I can't…"

"You trying to say something, sweetheart?" SheZow said with a sigh.

"You trashed police property!"

SheZow waved a hand dismissively. "Pfft. Happens all the time. You'll get used to it."

Boxter looked at the car and groaned. "I don't believe it." His shoulders slumped. The puppy was back, and he looked like he'd just been kicked. Did cops have to pay for that kind of damage? Her manager got grumpy enough when one of his staff dropped a not-quite-empty milk carton.

Droosha sidled up next to him and winced. "Ouch. Um… those coffees are on the house. If it helps." It probably didn't.

But Boxter looked at her like it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for him. "Aw thanks… but I already paid you for them."

Oh yeah.

Boxter glared at SheZow again, who had stopped dusting herself off and was now watching both of them suspiciously. He squared his shoulders, and for a moment Droosha thought he was going to have another go at giving the superhero a serve. But instead he turned to her and said: "You know, I've been meaning to ask… if you wanted coffee. I mean, I guess you do coffee all the time, so it's probably… but I don't know if dinner is appropriate I mean I hardly know you and…" He started to turn pink again.

"You're asking me on a date?" Droosha said, before he completely tripped over his words and died of embarrassment.

"You're asking her on a date?" said SheZow, her eyes narrowing. Why was she even still standing there?

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Boxter frowned.

SheZow stiffened. "Um… nothing. I have superheroing to do. Just make sure he's… ahem… nice to you." Then she shot up into the air and was gone.

"Guys are always nice to me. At least, they'd better be…" And she'd just said that out loud. Oops. Droosha glanced across at Boxter. He'd heard her alright, but he just looked mildly startled before smiling at her faintly.

Droosha felt herself flush. "I finish at three," she said. "If you're free then, I can get us those on the house coffees."

Boxter's face lit up. "I… yeah, okay. I'll see you then."

Boxter's partner was collecting their coffees from Nerissa at the door, and the two had their heads together like co-conspirators. Droosha swore he finished up by saying something that sounded like: "About bloody time."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n:** Another little bit of fluff. I'm referencing an OC from some of my other fics, so if you've read those you'll know her. If not, it should still make sense. :)

* * *

Boxter glanced sideways at his partner, whilst pretending he was still intent on munching his donut. Wackerman sat on the driver's side of their police cruiser, he had the sunshade down, and was using the mirror on the back to check his moustache for crumbs. Almost pedantically. Boxter couldn't take it anymore. "All right, what are you doing, Wackerman?"

Wackerman started and snapped the sunshade back up. "Nothing…"

"You've been preening yourself in that thing all week."

"I'm not preening."

"You got a girlfriend or something?" Boxter prodded.

Wackerman flushed.

"Whoa, hang on, how'd you get a girlfriend?"

"Jeez, thanks…"

"No, I mean, when? You didn't tell me."

"For a bit over a month now." Wackerman began digging through the bag of donuts, not looking at him.

A month? Boxter scowled. "Okay, who is it? Anyone I know?" It wasn't like Wackerman to keep something like that to himself. Not from him. I mean, it wasn't like he wanted every little detail and then to braid each others hair, but, c'mon, he was his partner!

"Well…" The chirp of Wackerman's phone cut into the conversation. He fished it out of his pocket with noticeable relief and began to play with it.

Boxter watched him carefully, not missing the smile and the faint flush that came across his partner's face when he read the text. "Come on, who is she…" Boxter leaned over and grabbed at the phone.

"Get out of it! What are you, five?!"

"Wackerman, come on…" Boxter grappled at his friend's arm, and just managed to hang on long enough to read half of the text. "She wants you to what…" He felt his cheeks flush. Okay, he was definitely not meant to see that. "Sorry."

Wackerman snatched his arm away, even more flushed now, then sighed dramatically. "Fine, you big baby. What do you want to know?"

Now they were getting somewhere. Boxter took his coffee out of the cup holder, and sunk back in his seat. "Well, for starters, who's this lucky lady? Come on, if my best bud is finally thinking of settling down I want to know."

"We're not that far along," Wackerman snorted. "It's complicated, so we're taking it slow."

Boxter raised an eyebrow. "That was not a 'slow' text."

"Do you want to hear this or not?"

"Yes. Sorry. So do I know her?"

"Yeah." Wackerman fumbled with his phone. "It's Jenny."

"Jenny? Who's Jenny…" Boxter wracked his brain. Took a sip of his coffee whilst he pondered.

"Johansson."

Boxter spat his coffee all over the windshield. "Johansson?" He broke down into a fit of coughing. There was legitimately coffee down the wrong pipe, but that didn't stop Wackerman glaring him like he thought he was putting it on.

"See! This is why I didn't tell you."

"Detective Johansson?" Boxter spluttered, then swallowed hard to clear his throat. "I thought you were scared of her?"

"Well, yeah, that's kind of why I said yes when she asked me to grab a drink with her. I mean, I panicked, and… But then it kind of went from there. It turns out she's really nice when she's not in work mode and then there's her…"

"Texts." Boxter couldn't help adding.

Wackerman flushed yet again. "You cannot tell her you saw that, she'd kill me. What are you grinning at now?"

"You really like her. Otherwise you would've told me, and you would've been on about how it made you such a stud. Wackerman: distributor of parking tickets and lover of women."

"She really is nice. When she's being social she's more direct, like she tells you what she wants, instead of trying to find work arounds when things don't go her way, like she does with all the bureaucracy at work. But she's still, you know… awesome." Wackerman had a far-away look in his eyes, but then he blinked and it was gone. "Just don't go telling everyone until we work out if we're really, you know…"

Boxter shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because!" Wackerman rubbed at his arm. "I don't want to be the guy that every time she fixes something for us, everyone mutters about how it's just 'cause I'm sleeping with her."

"Aw, Wackerman."

"What? You know that's what'll happen."

Boxter sighed. "I guess." He fished a napkin out of the donut bag and began mopping up the coffee he'd spat everywhere. He didn't want to see his friend in knots over something that should've had him happy. He let out a huff. "You know what? Stuff them. If you really like her you can't let something like that get in the way."

"It's easy for you, you've got a great marriage."

"Yeah, but do you think I could have that with just anyone? It's not that easy. It's like… Wackerman, if you really think it'll work with her, don't hold back. I mean, don't rush in and stuff it all up, but don't fluff around and…"

"Which one is it?!"

Boxter groaned. "I don't know… but do you like her? I mean, really like her?"

"Yeah," Wackerman said without hesitation. "More than anyone, you know, before…"

"Well, don't be stupid about it then."

"You are really not helping."

Boxter huffed. "Well, you're not going to get any crap about it from me, all right?"

Wackerman raised an eyebrow. "You mean more than you usually give me?"

"Exactly."

"Thanks." Wackerman smiled faintly.

"So, are you going to tell me what you two have been up to?"

Wackerman put the car in gear and pulled out. "Nope."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n:** Ookay, so I wasn't sure if I had to up the rating to M for this one. But, the nasty stuff is implied, not explicit… so… let me know if I need to up it.

* * *

Wackerman stirred in the chair behind him.

Thank God. Boxter let out a pent up breath. "Hey, Wackerman? I'm right behind you. You okay?"

They were both tied to chairs. Back to back, their hands restrained behind them. Wackerman had been punched out, or… something worse. Boxter was sure he'd heard the snick of a knife unfolding. Then their captors had done something to Wackerman; he'd made the most god-awful noise, and then fallen silent.

Boxter had cursed and yelled at the men, but they only laughed and paid him no mind. And then left them alone. He'd been calling out to Wackerman on and off for the past half-hour, not knowing whether his friend was just unconscious, or dead. But Boxter's heart began to pound in his chest again. Wackerman still hadn't responded.

"Wackerman?" Boxter's voice wavered. "You okay, buddy?"

Wackerman shifted in his chair again, then let out a broken sob.

Oh no. What had they done to him? Boxter felt his chest tighten. "Wackerman," he said, his voice softer, "I'm right here. What happened? Talk to me."

"I… Hamdon…" Wackerman choked off. He sounded like he'd started to cry, but was trying to muffle the sound.

"Aw, buddy. It's… we're going to get out of this…" Boxter tried to shift his chair, but it barely budged. He gritted his teeth. They'd hurt his partner. And done nothing whatsoever to Boxter, barely roughed him up, like they didn't care.

Boxter's bound hands bumped against Wackerman's. He could just move his cramping fingers, and he grasped at his partner's hand. "Hey, I'm right here. Can you feel me? Just… just grip onto me how much you're hurting."

Wackerman grappled for Boxter's fingers, caught them, then dug in his fingernails.

Boxter winced. Yeah, his partner was hurt. He hung his head and swallowed hard. "Okay, I've got you, and I'm not going to let go. Just tell me what they did to you. Maybe I can help."

"You can't. You're tied to a bloody chair."

"I… I know. Just talk to me. Maybe'll it'll help."

"They…" It took Wackerman a long moment to fully respond. When he did, Boxter only barely understood his strangled words. "They cut me up." He broke down for real now, and his fingers tightened on Boxter's.

Anger welled up deep inside Boxter. His guts clenched, and he felt sick. "How… how bad?" he finally asked, once he was sure his voice wouldn't crack.

"I…" Wackerman's words were broken by sobs now. "I can't… tell. There's blood everywhere. I can't…"

"Okay, it's okay." Boxter squeezed his partner's hands. But he could do nothing more. He was tied to a damn chair.

Then: "MDPD!" The loud female voice rang out from the darkness. Only a room or two away. Detective Johansson.

Thank God. Boxter looked up. "We're over here!" he shouted. Maybe not the best idea. He winced. But it was done now. "Wackerman, did you hear that? It's Johansson. You're going to be okay, buddy."

"Don't… don't let her see me like this…"

"It's okay…"

"It's not. I don't know how bad they… damaged me… she's not gonna… she won't want me…"

Boxter cringed and blinked back tears. "She loves you. She won't…"

The door to their room opened, slamming back against the wall to let in a ray of light that framed the silhouette of a furious woman with a gun. Johansson's eyes darted around, and then she lowered her weapon. "Hamdon, you okay?"

Boxter blinked in the sudden brightness. "I'm fine. Wackerman's hurt."

Johansson swallowed hard, then made her way around Boxter. "Wackerman? Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry…" said Wackerman.

Boxter heard Johansson's sharp intake of breath. "Baby… Okay, it's okay. You're safe." She never called him pet names at work.

One of the other officers came in and untied Boxter's hands. Boxter stood up shakily, massaging his bruised wrists. He turned around.

Johansson was hugging Wackerman around his neck, his face buried in her shoulder. "Someone bring a first aid kit," she said. "And call an ambulance." She looked up at Boxter, and though her voice was relatively steady, she had tears running down her face. It was the first time Boxter had seen the detective cry.

* * *

 **A/n:** I'm opening up for suggestions on what one shot I should write next. I'm not promising to write every suggestion, but if your request gets me interested I will have a crack at writing it. Mostly need ideas for stuff to do with the kids (cause I know I do a lot of Boxter/Droosha), but will take requests for the adults too. ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n:** Awesam132 requested SheZow doing the bottle flip challenge. First, I had to google what the bottle flip challenge was, because I'm old. XD But I figured it out… Here it is.

* * *

"You could totally do that, Guy," said Maz.

The two boys were up in Guy's bedroom, staring, riveted to the computer screen. They were watching the video of the teenager flipping a water bottle into the air, and than having it land, perfectly, on its base. Well, at least Maz was riveted.

Guy leaned back in his chair, arms folded. "Pfft. That's easy. Besides, everyone is doing it. You really think we're going to get a viral video out of something everyone else is already doing?"

"Hmm," said Maz, staring at the ceiling as he thought. "What about if we did a video of SheZow flipping a water bottle?"

"Seriously? SheZow is a superhero, she can do way more than flip a bottle…" Guy's gaze wandered outside his bedroom window. He froze, and then grabbed Maz's arm in a death grip. "Maz!"

"Ow! What?"

"What if she flipped something bigger than a water bottle?" He pointed out the window, to the huge water tank in their school's oval, visible over the tops of the houses.

Maz's eyes widened. "Dude, that would be so awesome."

"Let's go…" Guy stood to his feet, ready to fling out his fist and shout: 'you go girl.'

But Maz grabbed his arm. "Now?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm not sure…"

"You don't think SheZow can do it?"

"No, I mean, what happens if you drop the tank? It's out in the open; people might see. SheZow will be a laughing stock. You should practice first."

Guy broke into a grin. He slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Good idea. See, this is why you're my sidekick, Maz."

* * *

In the Hamdons' kitchen, the boys had procured a half dozen water bottles from the fridge. A half dozen more had rolled away to various places, under the fridge, into the hallway, the dining room, under the sofa.

"I've nearly got it," said Guy. His water bottle spun through the air, then clipped the edge of the kitchen counter and rolled away. "Aw! Damn it! Maybe SheZow can do it…"

"What, in your parents' kitchen?" said Maz, wincing.

Guy lowered his fist.

"Here." Maz picked up one of the bottles. "Maybe it's a balance thing. What if I tip some of the water out of this one, then you try?" Maz poured some of the water into the sink, screwed the cap back on loosely, and handed it to Guy.

"Okay, here goes…" Guy's face scrunched up as he concentrated, he swung his arm, then flipped the water bottle through the air.

"Boys, why is there a water bottle under the sofa?" Boxter walked in from the lounge, an escaped bottle in hand, and a frown on his face.

The water bottle Guy'd tossed landed perfectly on it's base, right at Boxter's feet.

"Ye…!" Guy began.

And then the lid popped off under the impact and shot a spray of water straight up, all over the front of Boxter's pants. Boxter just stood there, eyes wide. Then he looked at Guy and swallowed hard.

Guy winced. Those water bottles had been straight from the fridge; that had to be freezing. His father just stood there and stared at him, and for a moment, Guy wondered if he'd actually hurt him.

"Um… sorry, Dad…"

Boxter blinked, and then his eyes narrowed. "What, the hell, are you doing? I have to go to work!"

Nope, just made him angry. Which was a rare enough occurrence that Guy grabbed Maz by the arm, and promptly bolted out of the kitchen, dragging his friend behind him.

"Oh, come on!" Boxter groaned.

Droosha wandered into the kitchen, and stopped, eyebrow raised as she took in the water all over the floor. She looked up at her husband. "Boxter… what on earth? Were you trying to cook again?"

"Do I look like I'm trying to cook?!"

* * *

Maz and Guy laid low until Boxter changed and headed off to work, then they snuck out to find the water tank. They stood on the school oval in the gathering dusk. The tank was on a metal stand, it had to be some twenty feet tall, and almost as wide again. Not quite bottle shaped, but same thing, right?

"You ready to do this, Maz?" Guy grinned.

Maz pulled out his phone, and flicked through to the camera app. "Ready."

"You go girl!" Guy flung out his fist, and turned into SheZow.

Maz held the phone out, focusing on SheZow, then gave Guy the thumbs up.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Guy, putting on his best SheZow voice. "SheZow has something special for you today; I'm going to do the bottle flip challenge…" he gestured behind him with a flourish, "… with this water tank."

Maz panned the camera up, taking in the water tank.

"Right," Guy said to himself. "Here goes…" He flew up, took the big white tank in his hands and hoisted it down from its metal stand. He landed back on the school oval, the tank balanced above his head. "One, two, three!" He hurled the tank straight up into the air, through the gathering darkness, and then it punched through the cloud layer overhead and disappeared. Guy dropped his hands to his sides, shoulders slumping. "Oh…"

"Dude, follow it!" Maz tossed his phone at him.

Guy caught the phone out of the air. He flew into the sky, following his best guess at the water tank's trajectory.

* * *

Boxter sat in his police cruiser, arms folded across his chest, and a scowl on his face. "I need coffee, now. Or something warm. My nuts are still freezing. Bloody kids."

Wackerman groaned, and rolled his eyes. "Speaking of childish behaviour…"

Boxter punched him in the arm.

"Ow! Do you want me to get you coffee, or not?"

"I'll get it with you. I need to move, not sit in the damn car when you insist on having the damn air-conditioning up so bloody high."

Wackerman made another grumbling noise, then opened his door and stepped out. "Numb-nuts," he muttered, right before slamming the door.

Boxter eyes narrowed and he stepped out too. "Hey!" he said, slapping a hand on the cruiser's roof to get his partner's attention.

Wackerman was staring straight up at the sky. "Um… Hamdon…"

"What?"

"What the hell is that?"

Boxter looked up. A big, white sphere was directly above them, and growing larger.

"Move!" Wackerman backed off from his side of the car, and Boxter stepped back as well.

A water tank fell right out of the sky, and smashed into the roof of their cruiser. The cruiser let out a startled whoop, punched straight through the bottom of the tank, disappearing completely, then the top of the water tank popped off. A huge wave of water sloshed up and over the edge, right for Boxter.

"You have got to be kidding…" Boxter was knocked to the ground under the impact, soaked through to the skin with freezing water. He hauled himself back to his feet, threw his dripping arms wide and let out a angry growl.

SheZow stood barely ten feet away, holding a camera phone in front of her. She lowered it as Boxter looked right at her, and swallowed hard. "Um…"

"SHECOW."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/n:** TheyTookMyUsername asked for the kids giving a book report on what they wanted to be when they grew up. Guy decided to be an idiot, so this ended up being a huge one-shot, way longer than I intended it to be. But, hope you all enjoy anyway! :)

* * *

Guy sat in the she-lair with Kelly and Maz, swinging his legs off the chair in front of Sheila. His best friend and sister were discussing their latest school assignment. But Guy wasn't worried.

Maz groaned. "Aw, man. I hate homework. Whose idea was it to make us decide what we want to be when we grow up, now? We're twelve. I don't even know what I want to eat for breakfast tomorrow!"

Guy put his hands behind his head and leaned back, making the chair squeak. "Well, I already know what I'm going to be when I grow up. Or rather, who. A report on my future career? It's gonna be a snap."

Kelly sighed, and rolled her eyes. "You mean SheZow? The superhero, or should I be more specific: superheroine, who has a secret identity? No one's supposed to find out who she is, genius!"

Guy smirked at his sister. She was pretty funny when she got herself all worked up over nothing. He shrugged. "So?"

"So, you can't do your report on how you're SheZow."

"Relax, Kel. I'm not that stupid."

"Good. I was worried for a minute."

"I'm not going to do my report on how I am SheZow. I'm going to do it on how, when I grow up, I want to be 'like' SheZow."

Kelly stared at him, and her jaw dropped open. "You are not serious."

"Hmm," said Maz, rubbing at his chin. "You put that distinction in there, no one will ever guess. Nice one, Guy."

"You're an idiot. I can't believe this," said Kelly. She turned around to the computer. "Sheila, back me up here."

Sheila had been quietly listening to the conversation up until now, but she didn't hesitate to give her opinion. "Well, technically, saying he wants to be 'like' SheZow won't threaten his secret identity at all."

Guy let out a short laugh. "See?"

"Sheila!"

"Although," Sheila continued, "I'm assuming Kelly's more worried about your teenaged boy identity; now that might be a little more sensitive to the hazardous ecosystem you humans call middle school."

Guy stood to his feet and put his hands on his hips. "I am not sensitive! I'm a dude!"

"A dude who wants to tell his whole class how he wants to dress up in pink and run around saving the world in a squeaky voice," Kelly snorted.

"My SheZow voice is not squeaky, it's feminine." Guy huffed. "Come on, Kelly, you suddenly got a problem with me being SheZow? You know, apart from being jealous, I mean."

Kelly turned a little pink, and put her hands on her hips, matching Guy's stance. "I am not jealous! I'm just… don't you get it? You really think all of your friends are going to think you're cool because you want to be SheZow? Soon as you mention pink, those boys'll make your life hell. And what about the teachers? You'll ruin your entire middle school existence!"

Guy snorted. "Stop being such a drama queen. I'm already cool. They might think it's a bit weird, yeah, but I'm proud of being SheZow, and I do a good job. And SheZow's cool too. So, it'll be fine. If I can't actually say I'm SheZow, this might be the closest I'll get."

Maz shrugged. "No one's going to hate him, Kelly. I mean, I don't care he dresses in pink and he's a dude."

Kelly groaned. "But that's different. You're Maz. You're… weird."

Maz's arms slumped at his sides. "Geez, thanks."

"No, Maz, I didn't mean…"

"Well, I'm proud of being SheZow," Guy huffed. "And that's what I'm doing my report on. So you can do something boring, like how you want to run a giant boring company, but I'm going to do something interesting."

Kelly sighed and folded her arms. "You're really set on it, huh? Well, you're right, it's sure gonna be interesting."

* * *

It was starting to look like his sister had been right. Not that Guy wanted to give up on saying what he had to say about SheZow. He wasn't a coward. But saying it to his class, and his usual teacher, was different to saying it in front Principal Moorhead, who was filling in for her. And he was already grumpy. I mean, who wanted to listen to a bunch of kids prattle on about being anything and everything from scientists to 'happy'.

But, Guy didn't have anything else prepared. How bad could it be?

"And, so, that's why I want to be, um, 'like' SheZow." Guy finished his report, let out a pent up breath, and looked up over the top of his notes. His classmates were all staring back at him. The air-conditioning hummed. Someone's pencil rolled off their desk and fell to the floor with a loud plink. Then one of the boys coughed into his hand: "Pansy." Half the class broke into a fit of giggles.

Kelly looked right at him from the back of the class, eyes wide, her expression caught somewhat between horror and pity. She face planted in her notebook, and groaned.

Maz was glaring daggers at the snickering kids closest to him, but they were all too busy to notice.

Principle Moorhead took a few moments to actually register the disturbance. He still stared at Guy, like he was waiting for the punch-line. He finally blinked himself out out of his trance, and then scowled and rounded on the rest of the class. "All right, settle down!"

No one wanted to incur the principal's wrath; most of the giggling stopped. Which meant that wrath had nowhere else to turn, but onto Guy. "So, you want to be… SheZow?" Moorhead asked, raising an eyebrow. "You realise she's a girl, right?"

"So?" Guy growled. He felt like yelling 'she's not a girl!' But he didn't need Kelly to tell him that would be beyond stupid. Showed what Principle Moorhead knew anyway.

"What is the world coming to?" Moorhead huffed. "Just checking."

Guy's jaw tensed. "What's wrong with…"

"I thought you were finished? Or do you want to dig a deeper hole for yourself?"

Guy swallowed, and shut his mouth.

"Julie, your turn," said Principle Moorhead. "Maybe you can present something a bit less, er, flamboyant."

Guy felt himself flush as he went back to his seat. Julie was the girl who wore the frilliest little pink skirt imaginable, and so many bows in her hair it was like she thought they were going out of fashion, which, technically, they had been since the second grade.

Julie stood at the front of the class. "When I grow up, I want to be an engineer. And I will build the first rocket ship to land on Jupiter… and…" She glanced at Guy, and choked back a little snigger. "My rocket will be pink."

The class exploded into giggles again.

* * *

"That could've gone better."

"Ya think, Maz?" Guy couldn't get out of school fast enough. He had his head down, his hands bunched up around the straps of his schoolbag. If he could just get out the front gate without being bailed up by any of the other kids, he'd be fine.

"I like your skirt, Hamdon!" someone shouted, somewhere behind him.

Guy winced and kept his head down.

"Shut up!" Maz shouted back over his shoulder.

"Leave it," Guy growled, dragging at his friends shirt sleeve. All he had to do was get out of here, and he didn't have far to go.

"So, you really want to be SheZow?" A big boy in a black shirt, and enough piercings to seriously challenge the school's policy on excessive jewellery, appeared at Guy's shoulder.

Guy bristled. "Yeah, what's the problem, Derek?"

"Hey, no problem." Derek held up his hands. "I was just going to say: I think you've got balls, getting up there and actually saying it." He sighed. "That being said, my father's a hairdresser…"

Maz frowned. "I thought he did tattoos, and, you know…"

"Yeah, and hairdressing. He mostly like the hairdressing. But what I was going to say is: at least my dad isn't a tough as nails cop. Because if he was, and he found out I'd done a report like that, I reckon I'd be in trouble. Guy's dad is a cop, and," he pointed out ahead of them, "He's waiting for him at the school gate. Good luck."

Guy looked up and spotted Boxter standing just in front of the school gate, talking with Principal Moorhead. He froze.

Maz stopped beside him. "Guy?"

"What," Guy swallowed. "What's Dad doing here?"

"I guess Principle Moorhead must've called him. Aw, man. That sucks."

"But why?!" Guy squeaked.

Principal Moorhead and Boxter were definitely having a conversation, though Guy couldn't hear what was being said from this distance. Not that it was hard to guess what it was about. Moorhead was doing most of the talking. Boxter had his arms folded tightly across his chest, he stared right at the principal as they spoke, and he was scowling, teeth gritted, like he was only barely holding inside his anger.

"All I did was give a report!" Guy burst out, rounding on Maz, arms thrown wide. "What, now they want to dob me into my dad for actually doing my homework?!"

Maz held up his hands. "I don't know, dude. Just calm down. But your dad looks kinda mad, maybe you should slip off. He hasn't seen you yet."

"No. Way." Guy balled up his fists. "This is, this is… bullshit!"

Maz blinked.

"You heard me: bullshit!" he said, a little louder. Luckily, there were no teachers around. But some of the kids nearby turned and looked at him. Well, maybe that'd up his cool status a couple notches, especially after the thrashing it'd just taken. "I'm not running, they got a problem, they can say it to my face."

"Guy…" Maz rested a hand lightly on his shoulder.

"Go, Maz," Guy pulled his arm away. The last thing he needed right now was anything that could be remotely twisted into gossip about him holding his best friend's hand. "I can deal with this." He stomped across the school yard to the gate.

"Ah, there he is," said Principal Moorhead, just as Guy came into earshot. "I'll leave you to it. Like I said, you need to give that boy some fatherly guidance. I know you can't belt it out of him like we could back in the day, but I'm sure you can come up with something creative. Then again, you are a cop, so I'm sure you know exactly how to get away with that sort of thing."

"I think I can manage," said Boxter, his voice tight through gritted teeth. He still had his arms folded, his hands pinned under his arms. Why was he so mad? But Guy already knew the answer: he hated SheZow. How could he have been so stupid?

Principal Moorhead clapped Boxter on the shoulder, and Boxter kind of jerked at the impact, but didn't unfold his arms and just watched the other man's back as he walked away.

Guy drew to a halt and looked up at his father. "Dad…" His sentence cut off with a pathetic little squeak. "I… um…" he struggled for a grasp on his voice. "What are you doing here?"

Boxter finally looked at him. He unfolded his arms, but his shoulders were still tense. "Your principal texted me. I thought I'd give you a ride home."

"I don't… I can walk."

"It wasn't a question."

Guy swallowed. "Okay." Boxter ushered him into the front seat of his police cruiser. That was one plus, at least. Wasn't getting carted off in a cop car from your school's front gate the epitome of cool?

* * *

Five minutes later, and Boxter still hadn't said a word. Guy risked a sidelong look at his father. Boxter gripped the steering wheel tight, looking dead ahead. His jaw was set in a hard line.

Guy swallowed. "Dad?"

Boxter released a pent up breath, and finally looked at his son. "Your principal told me you did a report today."

"Yeah…"

"On how you want to be… SheZow?"

Guy gulped. "Yeah, I did. And I said I want to be 'like' SheZow…"

Boxter winced. "I didn't think your principal was the kind of man to pull my leg."

"What's the problem, anyway?" said Guy. His voice was gaining strength now. He could do this. He'd had enough from everyone at school, he wasn't going to let his father push him around too. "Why are you so mad?"

Boxter baulked. "Seriously? What do I rant about nearly every night at the dinner table?"

"How could I forget?" Guy muttered.

"Seriously?" Boxter said again. Like he still couldn't get it through his thick head. "SheZow? I mean, I get that superheroes are kinda cool, but SheZow?"

"What is everyone's problem with SheZow?" Guy's voice grated.

"She's a menace! She trashes Megadale at least twice a week, she can't drive to save her life, she treats the cops like her own personal clean up crew, and she has no sense of civil responsibility. And she's not the only one who helps Megadale. Cops do as well. Wouldn't you rather be, you know, like your dad? Plus you'd get to wear blue…"

Guy's fists had been tensing as his father continued to list all of SheZow's flaws. Like he didn't hear about them every night already. "Why would I want to be a cop," he snapped. "All you do is whinge every single night about how SheZow picks on you!"

"Hey!" Boxter barked. "You don't get to speak to me like that!"

"Why not? You can tell me I'm a failure, maybe I want to say what I think too…"

"I didn't say that: I said SheZow was a lousy superhero. What has gotten into you?" Boxter huffed. "I mean, seriously? What were you thinking? You told your whole class you want to be a female superhero, and one who dresses in the loudest most ridiculous pink outfit imaginable. Were you trying to get attention?"

"No!" Guy growled. He could feel tears pricking the back of his eyes. He drew in a sharp breath. "No, I just… she's got a cool car, and stuff."

Boxter continued his rant, like he hadn't even heard. "Did you even think about how people would react? And what about me? You're jerk of a principal is insinuating I don't know how to raise my own son. And that I should… he…" Boxter let out an inarticulate growl. "Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that made me?!"

"How is that my fault?!"

"You gave the report! No one made you do that. How could you be so stupid…"

Guy swallowed hard, but the tears he'd been trying to hold back broke free. He hiccuped as he tried to choke back a sob. "It was… I just meant it as a joke…" he said, swiping at his eyes. He turned his face to the window, trying to hide his tears. He squeezed his eyes shut tight. But his father had to know he was crying. "Or course I don't want to be SheZow. That'd be weak."

Boxter was quiet for a long moment. Then he sighed. "What am I doing?"

Guy drew in deep breaths, eyes squeezed shut, trying to calm his racing heart. Boxter wasn't saying anything else, but Guy didn't dare look. He couldn't bear to see the disappointment on his father's face. He just wanted to go home.

But, a few minutes later, when the car drew to a halt, they weren't home. Guy lifted his head. They were parked along Megadale's foreshore, a little ways down from the pier. Guy felt his chest tighten. His father wasn't through with him yet.

"Hey." Boxter rested his hand on Guy's shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You okay?"

Guy sniffed, and wiped away the last stray tear before he risked a look at his father. "I… yeah."

Boxter's scowl was gone. "So, how come you want to be a superhero like SheZow?" he asked. His voice was softer now.

Guy still couldn't bring himself to trust it. "I said it was just a joke," he said, looking down at his lap.

Boxter sighed, and took his hand off his son's shoulder. "Guy, I…" He started mucking about with the steering wheel, running his hand over its bottom edge. "You know, when I was your age, I… I kind of wanted to be a superhero. Like Tara."

Guy squinted. "Huh? You mean silly old washed up Tara? But she's… old."

"She wasn't old when I was fifteen. Or washed up." He smiled faintly, and shrugged. "I just thought she was pretty cool. She didn't take any crap from anyone, which was a feat in itself when she had grossest powers of any superheroine at the time. Wish I could've spoken up for myself like that when I was a teenager. That being said, I didn't go and announce to my whole class I wanted to be her, and my friends just thought I had her poster cause she was hot."

Guy snorted.

"She was a little, and I was fifteen!"

Guy felt a faint tug at the corner of his mouth. He poked at the gear shift. "I wasn't joking about wanting to be a superhero like SheZow, Dad. I just… look, I know you don't like her. And maybe she does make some mistakes. But I think she's cool too. She beats up bad guys and has really good insults. And she's got an awesome car, and her laser lipstick, I know it's supposed to be a lipstick, but its basically a laser sword, and it's really cool. And, I guess, assuming I was getting around in that getup, and no one knew who I was, it would just make me feel really strong, you know, having the power to stand up for people and not let them get pushed around by a bunch of super-powered bullies." Maybe he couldn't tell his father he was SheZow, but he could explain to him all the things he liked about being her. But would Boxter still accept that from his son? Guy swallowed, and looked down at his lap. "Please don't be mad at me."

"Guy, I'm not mad. Not at you. I mean, I got mad. And I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. That was stupid, 'cause," Boxter drew in a deep breath, and hung his head, squeezing his eyes shut, "I don't want you to be too scared of me to talk about stuff that's important to you."

"I'm not scared!" Guy bristled. "I just know you hate SheZow… and I don't want you to think I'm… I mean, if I was her, would you still even love me if I was? Or would you just think I'm weak…" He could feel tears stinging his eyes. He didn't want to cry again.

But Boxter just reached across and took him in his arms. "Aw Guy, what's going on?"

Guy didn't expect the hug. He gripped onto his father's shirt and sagged against his chest. "I just… I didn't know you'd find out," he said, feeling the tension leaving him as Boxter held him. "I don't care if my classmates think I'm weak or weird, I just don't want you to. I mean, you're a big strong cop…"

Boxter sighed, rubbing his son's back. "I wasn't strong today," he said quietly.

Guy pulled back and sniffed. "Huh?"

"When your principal came and talked to me, I should've stood up for you. I didn't. I disagreed with what he was telling me, but I couldn't… I couldn't put it into words. Sometimes I can't think on my feet, and I get all tongue-tied it I try to. Or I want to hit something. And after I didn't even have the guts to defend you, I took it out on you. That's weak. Not looking up to a supeheroine; not standing up and announcing it to your class."

"I don't think you're weak, Dad."

"I know. But I'm just trying to let you know, I get it. Especially when you're a teenager, you're still trying to work out who you are. Everyone's telling you how a man's supposed to act. It's so easy to feel like a failure. Sometimes we get so caught up trying to be tough we're way too hard on ourselves. You're allowed to stuff up sometimes, Guy. And you're still going to stuff up when you're an adult. I know it's hard, I just wish I'd been able to talk to my father more when I was growing up. So I want you to be able to talk to me. Not have to be scared I'll just tell you to toughen up."

Guy swallowed. "So, you don't mind if I want to be… like SheZow?"

"What, cause she's a superheroine? And you're a boy? Standing up in front of your class and announcing it might not have been the brightest idea. But you heard what I said about Tara. I know she kinda went south…"

Guy smiled faintly. "She became a full-fledged super villain, Dad."

"Well, heh, yeah. Maybe she's not the best example. But she was never the most awesome woman I've known. I met your Mom. And you know she doesn't have any problem standing up for herself, or you kids. Or me. And she showed me how to change a tyre. And she can cook. You admire stuff like that in a woman, it doesn't make you weak. And the best thing is, you don't have to worry about how you're going to be as good as her at something you admire in her. I'll tell you what to do…"

"What?"

Boxter bumped his shoulder. "Ask her to marry you. And don't get me wrong, proposing to your mother was the most terrifying thing I've ever done. But if someone like that loves you, even with all your flaws, you must be doing something right."

Guy smiled faintly. For the first time in ages, he wasn't worried what his father would think about his son being SheZow. He still couldn't tell him, but at least, if he ever found out… maybe it'd be okay. "Okay, I get it, I think…" he frowned. "But you're not saying I should marry SheZow, are you?"

"What?" Boxter put a hand to his face, and groaned. "No, please don't. Marry someone who, you know, maybe you think is as cool as SheZow, without all the superpowers. Don't marry SheZow, that would be real awkward for me."

Guy snorted. "Don't worry, Dad, I can't see that happening."

"Good."

"So, you're really not mad?"

"I think a part of me would've liked my son to have given a glowing report on how he wanted to be just like his old man, but no, I'm not. And I'm sorry. I was mad at your principal. He rattled me. He shouldn't even have texted me. Your Mom's your primary contact for emergencies or if you get out of hand. He thinks just because he doesn't think you should want to be SheZow, your dad must too? He has no right to do that." He gripped the steering wheel tightly, scowling. "Droosha's gonna be ropable when I tell her."

"You're going to set Mom on him?"

Boxter broke into a grin. "If I tell her what he said, I won't be able to stop her. Let's see how long his 'real men don't want to wear pink' spiel lasts with her."

"So, you wouldn't be mad if I wore pink? Because I know for a fact you have a pink shirt," Guy said with a smirk.

Boxter glared at him. "Your mother got that for me. And it's not pink, it's man-salmon."

"It's pink…"

Boxter let out a theatrically exasperated sigh. "Yes, I know. But if you call it man-salmon, not pink, you're less likely to get yourself in trouble. It's like saying you think SheZow's cool, but not going and announcing it to your whole class in a detailed report complete with how you like what she wears…"

"It was supposed to be five minutes long! I was killing time with that bit!"

"Well, a bit more tact with stuff like that might keep jerks like your principal at bay."

Guy chewed his lip. "What did he say to you anyway?"

Boxter smiled faintly, then ruffled Guy's hear. "Nothing you need to worry about. You let your Mom and me deal with him."

"Dad…" Guy pushed him off. "What about all my friends?"

"Well, you got yourself into that one, son. So I guess you're going to have to deal with it. Don't worry too much. They'll forget about it in no time. But, if it does get a bit much, I'm here if you need to talk, or if you need advice. And your Mom is too."

Guy smiled faintly. "Thanks, Dad."

"We good? I'm sorry I upset you."

"Yeah, Dad. We're good."

Boxter smiled. "Good. But I still think what you did was dumb. Where'd you get that from? Probably me." He reached across and ruffled at his son's hair again.

"Dad!"

Boxter grabbed onto him, and made sure he messed his hair up good and proper.

"Dad!" Guy wrestled him off. "Right…" He undid his seatbelt, then grabbed his father's arm and pulled himself up on him, reaching for his hair.

"Argh, help." Boxter backed up into the driver's seat, laughing. He grappled back, he could've pushed his son off easily, but he let him drag himself onto him. "I'm being assaulted in my own cruiser! Where's backup?" He made a lame attempt to grab at the radio handset, then groaned as Guy finally got his fingers into his locks.

Guy ruffled his hair as hard as he could, then pulled his hands back and grimaced. "Ew, what have you got in there, it's all sticky!"

Boxter just smiled at him, his hair a mess. "Love you, son."

"Love you too, Dad," said Guy, scowling. And then he wiped the gel off on his father's shirt sleeve.

"Hey!"

* * *

 **A/n:** Principal Moorhead is a giant dick (andhelookslikeonetoo). o-o

I'm doing National Novel Writing Month this year. So I probably won't be writing any fanfic for at least the next month. If you still have any requests, feel free to make them, but I won't get around to writing anything for a month. ;)


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n:** Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be working on SheZap's World. But, in the meantime, here's another short. Leave me a review! :)

* * *

"Um, Dad?" said Guy, poking his food around his plate. "How do I talk to girls?"

Kelly snorted. Like, she actually inhaled her juice and started choking.

Guy's cheeks flushed, his face growing warm.

Boxter was poking his food around his plate too, some orange bit, which could have been carrot. Sometimes it was hard to tell with Droosha's cooking.

"Boxter," Droosha prompted. Even she was smirking a little.

Goddess, he shouldn't have said anything! "It doesn't matter…"

"Huh?" said Boxter.

"Girls, Boxter," said Droosha. "He wants to know about girls."

Boxter flushed and his eyes narrowed. "What? Now? He's a bit young for…"

"He wants to know how to talk to them, sweetheart."

"Oh." Boxter's shoulders relaxed a little. Then he glanced slowly across at Droosha. "Oh…"

"Yeah," Droosha said, her lips twitching with the hint of a smile. "Don't get it wrong."

Boxter drew in a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "Right. So, what happened, son?"

"What do you mean what happened? I just want to know…"

"He tried to ask Wanda out," said Kelly. Seemed she'd managed to get most of the juice out of her airways. "So she pushed him in a fountain."

"She did what?" said Droosha, eyes narrowing.

"Mom, he tried to kiss her. I don't blame her."

"I did not try to kiss her! I was just demonstrating that, you know, I had the capability to, you know, if she wanted to, and it'd be a really good… kiss…" Guy felt his cheeks growing warm again.

"Well, it might've looked good if she was into goldfish…" Kelly snorted.

"Kelly…" said Droosha.

Now Boxter was fighting back a smirk. "What did you say to her anyway?"

"You know, how I would be such a great catch and… muscles… from skateboarding…" And fighting crime. If only he could tell her. Guy frowned. Or maybe girls weren't into guys who ran around in pink. And skirts. If only he could ask his father that.

"Ah, so you told her all about yourself," said Boxter. "Well, next time, you might try complimenting her, instead of yourself. For example," he cleared his throat. "Droosha, these baby carrots are really delicious. You've done a really great job with dinner."

"Aw, thanks, babe," said Droosha, with just a little too much simpering gratitude. She paused, fighting the smile that tugged at her lips. "But that's sweet potato."

Boxter hung his head and groaned.

"I don't know why you like Wanda anyway," said Kelly. "She's just so… urgh…"

"She's pretty," said Guy, fixing his sister with a glare. "Maybe if you took a few pointers from her you might…"

"All right, that's enough," said Boxter. "There's more to a potential mate than just looking pretty."

"Such as?" said Droosha. She seemed to be enjoying herself way too much.

But Boxter needed no encouragement. "Like being smart, and strong, and caring about you, and not holding your mistakes against you… just try and ask her again. But this time, be nice to her, and don't talk about yourself and how awesome you are so much. She can figure that out for herself."

"And if she doesn't, you can do better anyway," said Droosha. Her gaze was on Boxter, and she was smiling faintly.

Boxter caught the look. "Did I pass?"

"Yeah, you'll do."

Guy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Thanks, I guess. I don't know that that… what if she pushes me into the fountain again?"

"The important thing is to not let her sense your fear," said Boxter.

Droosha glanced across at him, her eyes narrowing. "What?"

"Er… this sweet potato is really delicious, darling."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/n:** ShadowDragon1553 asked for a fic where SheZow took a hit for Boxter and got hurt as a result. Here it is!

I really have been slacking in the fan fiction department lately, so I apologise for the large delays. I may or may not get back to some of my other unfinished fic, I'm not sure at the moment. Hope you enjoy this one anyway.

* * *

The wind whipped up around them, and the world turned white. The temperature dropped dramatically. Boxter hugged himself, felt his jaw start to tremble. "Wonderful, now look what you've gotten us into, SheZow." He backed himself up so the superheroine was right next to him. In the building blizzard, he didn't want to lose her entirely.

"How is this my fault?!" SheZow was grabbing at her hair, pulling it out of her face. She made a spitting noise as a strand slapped across her lips.

"You decided to fight him…"

"To STOP him," SheZow said. "You weren't doing any good. As usual."

"Well excuse me for not having superpowers. You do, so hurry up and stop Coldfinger. Before he turns the city into a snowdrift."

"I can't; my hair, it's a mess…" SheZow pushed her hair back again, but it was no use. It was frizzing and tangling in the icy air.

"Seriously, have you heard of a hair tie…" Boxter cut himself short with a yelp. He grabbed at his arm, where a sudden sting had hit him.

"What?"

"Damn it." He rubbed at his arm. "Coldfinger threw a rock or something at me!"

"Coldfinger doesn't do rocks."

Something slapped into Boxter's chest, and another, sharper pain sliced through his arm. Boxter hissed and grabbed at it. His shirt sleeve was slit open, a faint line of blood across his skin.

"Ow…" SheZow yelped as well. She was feeling them too. "It's hail."

"And icicles," Boxter gulped, clapping a hand over the cut on his arm. It stung. Not a problem, except that in the building snowstorm it was bound to get worse. "We need to find cover. Now."

"We're in the middle of the street, there's nothing… ow!"

A half dozen more hailstones smacked into him; they felt as big as golfballs. The impacts made Boxter gasp, and tears sprung to his eyes. Oh crap. They were in trouble.

"Get down," said SheZow.

"There's no cover…"

"Just do it!"

Boxter flattened himself on the ground, holding his hands over his head and squeezed his eyes shut. At least he could stop any head injuries. A couple more sharp pains hit him, then the impacts against his body stopped. But the wind continued to howl and the roar grew around him until it was almost deafening. Boxter opened his eyes. Hailstones and ice shards were slamming into the road surface all around, but none hit him. Some were as big as golfballs, some with sharp edges, some impaled themselves right into the road surface and the sight of all this so close to him made Boxter cringe. But, for some reason, he was protected.

Boxter worked up the courage to lift his head and look behind him. A big pink wall was shielding him entirely from the elements. With a start, Boxter realised it was SheZow's hand, blown up to ten times its normal size, like when she did one of her supersheslaps. She was protecting him.

SheZow was crouched beside him, cringing, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, her teeth gritted. She was only partially sheltered by the great big hand.

"Wait, SheZow…" Boxter reached out and grabbed her other hand, and pulled her in a bit closer. "You're getting hurt."

"Not… as much… as you would…" she said, her voice strained. "I'm stronger…"

"Your hair's a mess but."

"I'm not…" she cut herself off with a shudder and whimpered.

Boxter pulled SheZow into his body as close as he could, and felt her dig her free hand into his, clutching on to him for dear life. She was still too exposed, superpowers or not, she was weakened, and she was taking damage. His heart rate quickened. "Coldfinger, cut it out!" Boxter shouted into the storm. "We… we surrender, just cut it out now!"

The wind died down, the roar of falling ice abated. It left the sound of SheZow gasping for breath. She took her hand from around him, it shrunk back to normal size and she hugged it to her chest.

Boxter grasped her shoulder, and she flinched at his touch. "Sweetheart, you didn't have to do that."

"I… did…" Her cape and the back of her shirt were torn, but before Boxter could check for damage further Coldfinger's cackle cut through the air.

The villain stepped through the dissipating snowstorm and grinned. "Well, well, well… I didn't expect you to just sit there and take that, SheZow. It looks like taking you down will be easier than I thought."

SheZow just managed to lift her gaze to meet Coldfinger's, and a faint flash of anger crossed her eyes. But Boxter could feel her shaking under his hand. She might be angry at Coldfinger, but Boxter doubted she was even able to stand.

"Leave her alone, Coldfinger," Boxter growled.

"Stay out of this, cop," said Coldfinger. "I've been waiting to kill her for a long time."

Boxter gulped, gave SheZow's shoulder one last squeeze, then stood to his feet. "Well, if you want to kill her, you're going to have to go through me."

"Officer Hamdon, don't…"

"That can be arranged, Officer," Coldfinger smirked.

"Okay," Boxter said, with much more nonchalance than he felt. "But just know if you hurt me, if you kill me, the rest of the cops will never leave you alone."

Coldfinger halted in his advance, and blinked.

"Have you ever hurt a cop, Coldfinger? I mean, really messed with one of us? We might be weak enough by ourselves, but you give us reason to pay back something done to one of our own, and you won't have to worry about jail time. You'll never even make it into the station, and your superpowers aren't going to save you. You got what you came for. So, I suggest you get out of here before the other cops arrive, and you make this worse for yourself." Boxter reached into his pocket, finding his phone, and hoped he could find the right buttons without pulling it out. He fumbled with the keypad, and then the wail of sirens filled the air.

Coldfinger glanced about over his shoulders, and gritted his teeth. "I should freeze all of you cops, then see what you do. Damn it…" He took off.

Boxter turned back to SheZow. She'd hauled herself to shaking feet. She still clutched at her hand, and she was hunched over and shuddering. "Hey, be careful." He rushed back to her side.

"I have to… get back… to the She-lair…" SheZow stumbled, and Boxter grabbed her good arm.

"It's okay…"

"The cops are coming! I can't… I just saved your life. You can't let them arrest me, they'll find out who I am, and…" SheZow ran out of breath and gasped, hugging herself tightly.

"It's okay." Boxter pulled out his phone, and silenced the ring tone. "The cops aren't coming. I was just messing with Coldfinger, guess that police siren ringtone came in handy, even though it annoys my wife… I just set it off so I could scare Coldfinger, it's okay."

SheZow eyed him warily, but at least she stopped trying to walk. "You're not going to bring the cops?"

"No. But what I am going to do is call you an ambulance."

SheZow stiffened again. "You can't!"

"You're hurt, at least let me look at you."

"No!" SheZow pulled away from him, and started heading back towards her Shehicle.

Boxter huffed. She was more stubborn than Droosha. He stepped around behind her. The back of her shirt on one side was torn, but there were icicles sticking out of her back, and she was bleeding. Boxter's heart caught in his throat. "SheZow, hang on stop…" He stepped back around her, and grabbed her as gently as he could.

"Just let me…" SheZow cut short a sob, and then slumped her weight against him. "You can't take me to the hospital. They'll find out who I am."

"Probably. But they might not tell. SheZow, you're hurt, you need medical attention."

"Officer Hamdon." The voice came from the Shehicle.

"Huh? Who said that?"

"I'm Sheila, SheZow's computer. The She-lair is equipped with medical equipment, specifically designed to heal sheZow. She'll be much better off there. If you just put her in the Shehicle…"

"Let me come with her. She can barely walk."

"Just help me get in the Shehicle. I'll be okay." SheZow's voice was wavering, and she still clutched Boxter's arm, like it was the only thing keeping her upright.

Boxter swallowed. "Look, just let me make sure you're okay. You at least saved me from a lot of pain, I don't even know why, cause we always fight. But… I can't leave you like this. Just let me make sure you get back to your She-lair safe. Then I'll leave, if you want. But I can't just walk away from you, not when you're hurt like this, it wouldn't be right."

SheZow looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. She was still alert enough to hold them back, but she was definitely flagging. "I… you can't…"

"I won't try and find out your identity, I promise. But I'll feel better if I know you're okay."

SheZow's shoulders slumped and she hung her head. "Okay. Just take me back… to the She-lair."

"I can drive the car," said Sheila. "Just help her in."

Boxter steered SheZow to her car, and buckled her in as gently as he could, rearranging the seatbelt so it wasn't hurting her. When he sat in the passenger seat, SheZow slumped against his shoulder. She wasn't scared of him, even though she had to feel really vulnerable right now. She just didn't want him finding out who she was. She'd built up quite a criminal record.

The Shehicle put up its roof, and the windows tinted so dark Boxter couldn't see out. Well, they didn't want him knowing where SheZow's secret lair was, and that was fine.

SheZow whimpered and gripped onto him a bit tighter.

"You okay?"

"I feel… light headed…" SheZow said. She shifted a bit, then shuddered. "My back…"

She was bleeding again. Those icicles were melting. "Okay, hang on." Boxter grabbed what was left of her cape and wrapped it around the injured part of her back and shoulder. SheZow moaned faintly.

"Hey, I know we don't get on. But you protected me, I'm going to do the same for you, okay? Don't worry about anything, I'm gonna get you back to the She-lair in one piece."

"I'm sorry."

Boxter blinked. "Sorry? For what?"

"Sorry that we don't get on. I know… I stuff up a lot, and leave messes for you to clean up, and… I'm trying to do better, I'm sorry…" She choked off and dissolved into tears, pressing her face against his shirt.

Boxter pulled her in tighter. "Hey, it's okay." What did SheZow care what he thought of her? She must be really hurt. That shred of cape wasn't doing a great job of stemming the blood from the slices on her back. He hoped she wasn't losing too much. "Sheila, are we nearly there?"

"Nearly." The Shehicle made a turn, then braked to a halt. "Okay. Get her out."

Boxter extricated himself from SheZow's grasp as gently as he could. "Hang on, SheZow. I'm going to go round and help you out."

SheZow grabbed at his shirt sleeve, scrunching up the material in a desperate grip. "Dad…"

Boxter gritted his teeth. Aw, man. She was really out of it. "It's Officer Hamdon. Your father's not here. I'm coming back for you, I just need to help you out the other side."

SheZow let him go, but she was still crying, her makeup running.

Boxter stepped around the car, fighting the twinge in his guts. Dad? She was hurt, but no grown woman would ask that desperately for her father. She wouldn't cling to a man she barely knew like he was her lifesaver. He slowed. "Sheila? SheZow… she's just a kid, isn't she?"

"I can't…"

"Sheila!" Boxter barked as he yanked open SheZow's door.

"Yes, she is."

Boxter reached out for SheZow, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Somehow that completely dispelled any notion he was dealing with an adult or an almost grown teenager. He lifted her up in his arms like she was one of his own kids. "It's okay, sweetheart. Shh. You're safe. It's going to be okay, just hold onto me." Boxter's guts clenched. No child deserved to be hurt this bad, not to protect him.

A pink bed had appeared in the middle of the great big underground cavern. Boxter carried SheZow to it and laid her down gently. She was trembling, but she didn't relinquish her grip on his shirt. "Don't… go… please…" she choked out.

"It's okay, I won't leave you."

"She's fine there," said Sheila. "I've activated a field that will heal her."

"Can you do something for the pain?"

The bed glowed faintly and the hum it was emitting changed. SheZow sagged into the bed, her breathing steadying.

Boxter swallowed. "Sheila," he said hoarsely. "Do her parents know she's doing this?"

"You said you wouldn't interfere."

"I said I wouldn't find out her identity. What I want to know is if there's someone who's going to want to know she's hurt. If one of my kids… I'd want to know… Sheila, she's really hurt, and she's just a kid."

"Dad…" SheZow reached out her hand, and brushed Boxter's. The cuts and bruises on the back of her hand were healing slowly, whatever field the bed was generating doing something for it. Her back and shoulder still looked like some crazed animal had taken a swipe at her, but at least she'd stopped bleeding.

Boxter sighed, and took her damaged hand as gently as he could. "SheZow, he's not here. But, if you want to tell me who he is, I might be able to get him to come. I'm sure he'd be real worried to see you like this."

SheZow was looking at him through heavily lidded eyes. She'd quieted, though she was still crying silently, like she'd lost all will to try and cover her pain and exhaustion. "I can't. He'll be mad at me."

"How come?"

"Because I'm SheZow. He doesn't like her."

"Maybe he'd just be upset you were putting yourself in danger, getting yourself hurt for stupid cops."

"If your kids were doing something like this, would you be mad at them?"

"Behind my back? Yeah, a little. But I think I'd only be angry, because, I think it'd scare me a little."

SheZow frowned. "Why?"

"I'd be scared something like this might happen. Look, I know parents can be a pain sometimes. But if it's safe to tell your folks, tell them. They deserve to know. I mean, what if something happens to you? They should be here with you, not me. Even I think you trash Megadale, but nothing SheZow does should stop them loving you. If you've got a phone with their numbers of something…"

"Boxter," said Sheila, a growl creeping into her voice. "Leave her alone."

Boxter drew in a huff, and hung his head. "I'm sorry. I'm just… it's fine. I can just sit here."

"It's okay," said SheZow. She gripped Boxter's hands tighter. "It's just… there's something I need to tell you… I… I don't even know how…" She choked on a sob, and sagged into the bed. "She-yeah," she said, her voice barely audible.

SheZow's clothes shifted, the pink falling away like glitter. Her clothes changed to tan cargo pants, and a blue, somehow torn and tattered from the ice storm, hoody.

Boxter chest tightened, and for a moment he forgot to even breath.

"Dad?" Guy said, his voice weak. "Please say something…"

The back of Boxter's eyes burned, and he couldn't say whether it was the feeling of betrayal or seeing Guy like this that made tears threaten. Figuring out which to express was far easier. Boxter reached a hand behind his son's head, stroking his hair. "It's… it's okay, son. I'm here."

Guy's eyelids fluttered and then slipped closed completely.

Boxter drew in a sharp breath.

"It's okay," said Sheila. "She's… he's just asleep. It's best for him right now." She paused briefly. "Listen, Boxter…"

"I just want to sit here, okay?" Boxter said hoarsely.

"Of course." Sheila disappeared from her screen.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/n:** I know I have't posted much for awhile. Life has been taking me elsewhere. But, I did manage to write this little short when I was mucking around with my notebook. Does anyone remember the episode where SheZow tries to rescue a cat from a tree, and it ends up attacking Boxter? This is based after that. Droosha/Boxter fluff. Please review!

* * *

"Ow!"

"Boxter, sit still."

Boxter drew in a sharp breath, but resisted the urge to jerk his arm away. That would simply result in more reprimands, and Droosha wasn't going to let him go until she was satisfied. "I'm fine, sweetheart, really, I… ow, careful!"

Droosha sighed, lifting the antiseptic soaked swab from the scratches on her husband's arm. "No, you're a mess. Who did this to you anyway?"

Boxter grumbled deep in his throat. "SheZow."

"SheZow? SheZow doesn't scratch; she slaps."

"No, I mean… look, it was a cat, alright? SheZow spooked the stupid thing, and for some reason it decided to take it out on me."

"Well, someone should have sent you home. Or to the hospital."

Boxter snorted. "Droosha, I'm a cop. I'm not going to go home early just 'cause I got beat up by a cat."

Droosha glared at him, eyes narrowed. Then pain shot through his arm and Boxter jerked away. "Hey!" He hadn't even seen her coming for him.

Droosha's shoulders slumped, and she sunk into the sofa beside him. "I'm just worried about you, okay? It upsets me when you get hurt at work."

Mercifully, she left the bottle of antiseptic on the coffee table. Boxter shifted it a little further out of her reach. "I know. But a cat can't really hurt me. Your attempts to play doctor, on the other hand…"

Droosha rubbed a hand through Boxter's hair, then kissed his cheek. "Maybe you just need a different kind of doctoring."

"Heh. Okay." Boxter leaned in, his lips brushing against hers. "On second thoughts, a bit of doctoring might make me feel better."

"Good," said Droosha, her breath against his skin sending tingles through him. Then she pulled back sharply and snatched up the antiseptic bottle. "We can get to that as soon as I make sure you're not going to get an infection."

Boxter groaned.


End file.
